beijing

---

after eight hours of bum numbing flying we finally arrived in beijing. first thing was to negotiate the marvels of 21th century chinese public transport, which using our extensive knowledge of mandarin chinese and the international language of mime was surprisingly easy although we weren't sure if everyone was staring at us because they thought we were famous or just a pair of complete tools....after a short walk to the hotel from the subway, we checked in and then ventured out into the madness of beijing. first stop the temple of heaven. an unbelivable structure made of beautifully decorated wood surrounded by swarms of identically hatted tourists being herded by flag bearing tour guides.the park it's self is also very beautiful full of cypress trees and cats, we saw a lot of the park as we got lost and couldn't find the exit. secong stop a seven eleven and a chill night as we were knackered. Cat decided to go for a bottle of white wine whereas i decided to go native and try the local vodka, which came in a bottle that looked just like some cheap aftershave, which is exactly what it tasted like.

The next day we decided to go and pick up our train tickets. Once again we ventured into the subway to beijing west train station, boy is it big. after an hour of going up and down stairs and through many security checks, we eventually found the right door and the right queue, tickets in hand we went for breakfast although really it was lunch because we'd got up late due to a glass of aftershave and coke. i opted for the tried and tested method of pointing at pictures of food and Cat went for the phrase book method. my chicken turned out to be tofu and Cat's fried potatoe and rice also included pork knuckle and gravy....mmmmm

next stop the palace... better know as the forbidden city, well it is on a monday cause it's shut. So rather than walk all the way round the moat we paid the 4yuan and took a shortcut throught the park, only to be rewarded by the most amazing colours of the trees in autumn, and beautiful walk ways through them. well worth the price. we celebrated our day in beijing with a much deserved and needed beer on wanfung street. where there was an abundance of things to eat, some of it still alive, spoilt for choice we went for a mac donalds with all the rest of the tourists...

---

Comments

[Louise]

Hahahaha
Pete and myself loved this part of the blog xx